Pendleton on course for second Olympic gold

British sprint queen shatters record as she begins defence of individual sprint title at velodrome

Victoria Pendleton records a lifetime best in the individual sprint (Bryn Lennon)

VICTORIA PENDLETON got her quest for a second gold medal of the London
Olympics off to a flying start, setting a new lifetime best in the flying
200m, the qualifying round of the individual sprint competition.

Pendleton is defending the Olympic sprint title she won in Beijing four years
ago and seeking to add to the gold medal she won in the keirin on Friday.

Olga Panarina, of Belarus, was the fastest of the early starters, clocking
11.080sec before Kristina Vogel, of Germany, set 11.027sec. Vogel won a gold
medal in the team sprint on Thursday after the Chinese pair were relegated
for an irregular changeover.

Pendleton smashed Vogel’s time, stopping the clock on 10.724sec. It was a
personal best and a new Olympic record but not, as the BBC reported, a new
world record. That stands at 10.643sec and was set by Germany’s Miriam Welte
at altitude in Colorado